Normaility
by Hiasobi
Summary: Sam runs. Optimus hopes. Leo freaks. Will waits. Ron's scared. Jetfire laughs. An introspective piece to ROTF.
1. Normality

**Normality**

Sam is so, so tired of being the sacrifice. Sam hates the Witwicky code: No Sacrifice, No Victory.

He's tried of being the one who has to give things up, to be the one who has to pay the cost for an alien race's war. The military have things set up now. The Secretary of Defense said that Sam's done his part. He said Sam was okay now.

So Sam wants his normal back, he's going to college and he's going to make friends that are not national security measures, go out late at night without a yellow Camaro beeping after him for curfew, talk to his friends about girls and cars and not weapons and lists of the dead – he wants to be _normal_.

**. : - : . **

"I just want to be normal."

Optimus has raised enough soldiers in his time, and he wants to let Sam have this; this dream of his – to be normal, to be a civilian, to be safe. Even though he knows that it won't be possible, won't be long before that dream shatters.

Optimus is a Prime, and Prime's protect the Allspark. And he knows, as a Prime and as the one with the most knowledge on how the Allspark works, that the Allspark is not destroyed, just hidden. Transmuted.

But Optimus is a leader and as a leader he knows that the most important thing to have is hope.

So even though he knows different, he wishes, hopes, that Sam could get his normal.

**. : - : . **

Leo is freaking out.

Leo is freaking out and two years ago Sam would have had sympathy because two years ago when Sam found out about Alien robots he freaked out; but freaking out and running away isn't going to help anyone.

Sam's been trying to run away from it all since he found out, but look where that got him. A friend is down. Optimus is gone. That is the price for his attempt for trying to be normal. Running away isn't going to help anyone and keeping someone who doesn't want to be there is only a liability.

Sam spins around and yells at Leo. He really should have more sympathy for his roommate, but he can't. Leo _is_ normal, a normal guy (who Sam had been two years ago) would be freaking out – but Sam isn't that guy anymore.

Sam is abnormal: he knows alien robots, his car is an alien, he sees burning symbols in his mind, and he's watching the universe expand out from under his eyelids but doesn't understand what that means. He's a guy who long lost normal and instead of accepting it his futile attempts to cling to the shards have cost him a friend, and the Autobots a leader.

Sam is a failure. Sam is the guy who got his friend killed. He got his friend killed for something that isn't even possible for him anymore: the whole world knows his face and name, every government agency has his statistics on hand, his history on black and white pages, and there's no way back from this. Sam was reaching for the impossible and blinded himself from what the sacrifice would have to be for his dream to become a victory.

Sam hates himself and he would understand if Bumblebee hated him too. He hopes Bumblebee hates him too.

**. : - : . **

_Little kid._ Now matter how much they want to mislead themselves both Epps and Will knows there is only one 'kid' to Will and the soldiers in his command from that time two years ago. Epps doesn't know the kid's name because Epps hadn't wanted to know. Epps was good at compartmentalizing, his way of adapting and he had always been better at detaching himself than Will.

William never told Epps but after the Mission City battle he pulled Sam aside and talked to him about joining the military. Out there in the battle field he had told Sam he was a soldier now and pressed the Cube into his hands and made him run: for his life, for Will's life, for Sarah and his daughter's life, for the sake of everyone's life. He placed a heavy burden on Sam's shoulder and Sam had pulled through, made everyone's sacrifice worth it. Sam had carried out the mission Will had given him and that made him one of Will's soldiers.

William Lennox who had recently lost his base, every one of his soldiers who had been resting on base, all of his immediate commanders, all of his friends on personnel; and only the bare remains of his team staggering along with him in a war not of humanity's own and the then Army Captain was going to be damned if he was going to lose another one.

But Sam said no, turned him down, said he wasn't going to join the military – not joining Will's team.

And as much as he hates the situation, as much as he's gotten closer to the new soldiers in NEST under his and his leftover ragtag team's command, and he hates that the men who follow him are once more out there dying in a firefight with sentient beings larger and more advanced then they are, he can't help the part of him that is happy, the small part of him that swells up in inexplicable mix of anger, joy, fear, and sadness as he see's Sam and Mikeala running under live fire towards his team, as Sam finally runs toward instead of away from where he belongs.


	2. Destination

Wow! It's been only a day and I've gotten notice many of you have this story on Favourite or Alert. I'm so happy, =).

To _Colonelengle_: You didn't leave me a way to contact you, so I hope see this reply. I would love to see the video when it's finish! Please send me a link, or you can reach me at my livejournal or email through my Profile page.

To _Jason_: yeah I realized that Leo's freak out was from Sam's POV, so this one is from Leo's. Hope you like.

* * *

**Destination**

Leo doesn't know who the kid is. He was expecting another regular guy, hopefully normal and free of drugs and mental instability, the best was someone who he could share his alien theories with and at worst, a jock who Leo would have totally made peace with and stayed out of his way.

What he got was Sam, and Sam seemed great. Another geeky awkward college kid, straight out of the suburbs with parents who embarrass him. Someone who had been spoon-feed, living at home until college life, which was supposed to kick them into learning responsibility, and not that great with the girls.

But then girls who couldn't give Leo their time of day went straight out of their way to find Sam, and when Sam's girlfriend shows up Leo can't understand how a guy like Sam could get a girl like her in the first place, never mind keeping her.

Then the walls are tumbling down around him, cars and the girl of his dreams are alien robots, his picture is caught by security cameras as an acquaintance of an international wanted fugitive. Leo freaks. Leo thinks he has a right to freak, it's been a long day. But then Sam just yells, yells at him because no one is keeping Leo there, it's not _Leo_ people want.

Leo's realizing the accumulation of his life's work, his theories, but no one _cares_. No one has the time to care about him.

Leo leads them to _Robowarrior_ because he wants to contribute something, wants to be useful, but then he finds out _Robowarrior_ and Sam know each other. Simmons, and Sam know each other. Leo never even knew _Robowarrior_'s name and there he is ready to help them because of a few ranting phrases from Sam.

Leo doesn't know who the kid is. No one will tell him what's going on, he's only being dragged along with the journey half-confused, and no one will explain how they all know each other. He knows aliens and cars and the symbols have something to do with it, but he's only getting bits and pieces from whatever they drop in conversations.

Now they're on a race to some unknown destination and they need to get a giant dead alien robot half way around the world, and all Sam needs to do is make a phone call?

Leo doesn't want to freak, he doesn't. But he doesn't understand who they are, Simmons was an ex-secret agent so he makes sense, but who are Mikaela and Sam to stay so calm in the face of an alien aircraft shooting at them and closing in on their tail. How can they keep their composure and think beyond the fear of dying; how can Sam sit so comfortably behind the wheel, knowing that they're in an alien sentient being? Mikaela never sits in the driver seat, he's noticed that. It's only Sam; Sam who feels comfortable and within his right to lean back and grip the wheel and step on the gas and move the stick.

Leo doesn't know who Sam is, with the set jaw and dark eyes and a fierce belief that some thousands year old pixie dust is going to bring a person back to life.

Their Savior. A Prime. One who died in order to protect Sam.

Leo doesn't know who Sam _is._ Leo doesn't know what makes Sam so important.

All Leo knows is that Sam is definitely not the normal guy he was expecting, hoping, for in a roommate.

**. : - : . **

It's one thing to be told, _to be told_, that his son has fought the good fight and served his country and possibly saved the world.

It's another all together to be in the middle of the battle, grit and sand and dirt streaking his body and making scrapes sting, enemies surrounding him and giving chase with bullets and missiles, and his son, his much too young son who just started college and has so much to live for, telling him to run, get in the car and run – don't stop, don't hide, don't look back and _leave Sam behind_.

Its one thing to be told afterwards, after the fact, that Sam had taken on some ridiculous burden and ran with precious cargo towards some unfathomable destination. It's all well and easy to be proud of him, to be so proud of Sam to have pulled off such a crazy, brave thing. It's another to face the odds and see Sam's bright eyes and determined face, to see the _conviction_ that says Sam is a man now, past the stage where Ron and Judy can protect him from everything, from anything.

"You have to let me go Dad." Sam says.

It's easy when he knows that Sam is going away to college and normal, hundreds of miles away and costing Ron 40 thousand dollars a year but _safe_. It's near impossible when it's under a scorching sun, shifting sands, and live fire and enemies - deadly enemies Ron hadn't really understood were just that dangerous - ready to get to Sam, to kill Sam for something that seems too small for it to change anything, change everything.

Its one thing to push his son out of the nest, send him off to college where he'll only be able to visit for the holidays, and who knows what incidents that young college men get into these days. But it's a totally different thing to let him go, running into a battleground of a war Ron and Judy hadn't known – hadn't really understood – what was at stake and what the costs were; to face the possibility of having to _sacrifice_ his son. To realize that all this time, that for two years it had been _Sam_ protecting _them_; his little boy all grown up too harsh and fast, trying to protect the cruel truth from his parents. To watch that little back which has grown into broad shoulders shrink in the distance, knowing that he might not return.

Its easy to be proud of how far the awkward stumbling teenager had come; another to see the fierce burning light in Sam's eyes and the set of his jaw that frames the face of a man all grown up, a fighter with a purpose, a vital soldier in a war.

**. : - : . **

In all his life, Jetfire hadn't done anything worth doing until now. He was a Seeker, he had a mission. It had been his mission to fall and search: for energy sources, for planet with suns that had no life, and for the Primes. The Primes that had disappeared, the brave and courageous ones who had sacrificed their very existence to protect life on this planet. The leaders of Cybertron who had belief enough for everyone else that there was a future beyond this, beyond the endless fall and search and waiting for their race to die, spread thin over the far reaches of the universe. That once their entire existence didn't revolve around simply finding energy to continue their existence for another eon - that once there was _purpose_ for them.

Freedom. Life.

They had been legends, faded into the stories with only the faintest of memories to prove that they had existed, once. That outside the traitorous Fallen, their race had once been great, had been capable of courage and compassion; that they had the capacity for leading and teaching the other races to fulfill their greatest potential, to reach their destiny.

And now. A living Prime in front of him. In all his life Jetfire hadn't done anything worth doing; the new generation of Seekers didn't know the Primes, didn't remember them and believe in them. It had been so bleak of an existence to know, to know that all that waited was the endless black and empty planets and leaving behind suns that would die out in his wake. So when he finally got too tired, feeling battered and old and so empty, he went to sleep – possibly forever. Oxidizing and rusting and falling apart, he had been alright with his spark never flaring again, waiting for it to dim into the nothingness that was spreading from within; hibernating until shutdown.

But now, a Prime in front of him.

Finding the Tomb of the Primes would have done nothing, achieved nothing for the Seekers. The leaders were dead, _entombed_, and there was no one to take up the Matrix except the Fallen and he was no one Jetfire or his weary brother Seekers would have wanted to follow.

But here he stands: Optimus Prime. _Hope._

Jetfire laughs. It's the accumulation of his life, the end of his mission. To Fall and Search. To Seek and Find.

A Prime. He found a _living Prime_.

He is on fire, burning away, rusted and falling apart, and he is going to die, but that's fine. Because Jetfire has found a living Prime, he's accomplished his purpose. He's fulfilled his destiny.


	3. Deviance 1

I would like to thank everyone with this story on their Story Favourites and Alert (more than I had thought). You have made this story surprising popular.

* * *

**Deviance 1**

Sam's standing alone at the edge of the carrier. Optimus had been with him earlier but now the Prime was conferring with the rest of the Autobots. The sun was dipping below the watery horizon and although Sam's family and Mikaela had joined Sam for short spurts, they left him to his thoughts.

That's okay; Will's not planning to take up a lot of Sam's time. He just needs a moment. The Army Major walks up to the kid's side and stares out at the darkening sky.

"You thinking about it?" Will asks, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

He's not asking if Sam's thinking about the recent events in totality, although Sam probably was and if Sam needed to talk Will would be there, but there is only one thing Will's really asking about.

Sam looks back at him without turning his head. "I'm thinking about it."

It's not a no.

Will tries not to smile and grips Sam's shoulder in support. "I'll leave you to it then."

Will turns and walks away, Epps is watching him, waiting, and he can feel the smile widening.

**. : - : . **

Graham doesn't know what he was expecting when he joined NEST. Though there had been rumors of a large cover-up and the speculations rampant in the general populations of alien life forms. Even with the quiet whispers of government personnel that said there was possibly a grain of truth to the rumors, it sure wasn't enough to prepare him for the site of a large motor vehicle shifting and unfolding until it stood up and up and up. The childlike glee in Lennox's eye that he didn't bother suppressing showed how much the Major had anticipated the initiation and the gaping awe of the new recruits.

Graham likes it here; there are soldiers from different countries and Lennox is one of the best commanders some one could have. Everyone is a dedicated and efficient soldier; Lennox runs a tight shift, strict but also likable, understanding, fun to be around, and loyalty inspiring; Lennox pushes himself just as hard as he pushes the soldiers, even harder sometimes.

Graham worked to get to where he is, he came in with recommendations from the United Kingdom Special Forces that placed him somewhere the middle of the totem pole, but he pushed himself until he found himself here, in the lead team of NEST directly under the commanding officer Major William Lennox.

It's a great honor to work with a man who truly believes in what he's doing.

Lennox is smart and funny and bucks against authority when it countermands his objectives but their reporting General trusts Lennox, believes in Lennox and trusts him to make the right decisions.

Graham respects, admires, and is a little bit in awe of his commanding officer. William Lennox is magnetic; he pulls at you and makes you believe in yourself because he does, because Lennox does not command incompetents or fools.

Lennox bucks against constraining authority but that doesn't mean he doesn't follow the rules. He obeys when the order is given by legitimate and knowledgeable authority. William Lennox has respect for his superiors when they've worked to put themselves there.

While Lennox is a laid back commander when they're not in the field, he respects the regulations. Except sometimes select members of the NEST, leaders of the other teams and units, would be exchanging witty criticism with the commander and shoot back "of course, Captain."

And Lennox would only reply amusedly, "I'm a Major now."

It's only with select members of NEST. One time someone else tried it, and the smile Lennox gave was tight and disapproving, and no one else tried it again. People become aware of the ambiguous floating 'Captain Lennox's team.

They can read the report, listen to the debrief, but that doesn't change the fact that they were not there; doesn't add the missing details or the deliberately hidden truths.

The Qatar Base was annihilated, for a period of time it was thought there had been no survivors. Captain Lennox's team had been pursued and attacked by an unknown enemy in the sands. The team made contact and was flown back state side, and all the information was locked down and put under top secret. Mission City never happened.

There was an Agency which didn't exist and Lennox has a reprimand for threatening a special agent, but the names of both the organization and the agent is not written down anywhere.

Mission City never happened.

The details to that blacked out file lies only with the Secretary of Defense John Keller, The Joint Chiefs and the President.

There are a thousand and one speculations on the internet about what happened that day; ranging from conspiracy theorists to the residents of Mission City who posts their recollections.

This is what Graham found out, the facts that are real: Aliens are real. They brought their war to Earth. The deciding battle was fought in Mission City. The Allspark was destroyed, the leftover fragment guarded under state of the art protection. Some Decepticons survived and more would be coming.

Anything else is mere speculation because no one will confirm anything.

But there is a specter, something unseen but exists. All the Autobots are accounted for in the NEST hangers, except one - a yellow Camaro which visits from time to time to report in person to Optimus Prime. The Autobots greet him like a beloved comrade; Lennox like a valuable friend.

The Camaro rolls straight into the hanger to speak with his fellow Autobots, but sometimes Lennox goes in to join them, and Epps. And some times one of _them_, those that had been with NEST before the beginning.

He is guarding something, but no one will clarify what.

Lennox has been seen leaning at the side of the car, speaking softly, and Epps will join him. The Camaro replies in broken spurts from radio broadcasts instead of speech like the other Autobots and the command officers just laugh.

Once Lennox asked "How are you doing?"And the yellow Camaro answered, "-_killing time,_ _we were young and restless, needed to unwind." _before Master Sergeant Epps herded them away and out of hearing range. Lennox always tries to make time to speak with the Camaro.

Once, in a rare occurrence, Lennox went on a ride in the Camaro but the Major slid into the passenger seat. There was no talking, no negotiating, it seemed – known.

There is something unsaid in the silences between the old Captain Lennox's team, the unaccounted Autobot, and the denial from Optimus Prime and William Lennox for an appointment of an ambassador between the Autobots and humans.

Something exists in the amorphous space of everything unspoken; all of the soldiers know it. None of them received a recommendation to NEST by being unobservant.

Then the situation with the Decepticons escalates: Shanghai is evacuated, Optimus Prime records a message which reveals part of the enemies' larger plans, and the President appoints a liaison.

This is what Graham knows: Optimus Prime takes off one day, no one will reveal where he's gone. Mid afternoon all the Autobots roll out, without any orders from the NEST command. Major Lennox receives a call and the greatest Autobot they had ever known, who no Decepticon could take down, is brought back to the hanger in body only. Optimus fell in battle being outnumbered by Decepticons.

Optimus Prime is not a stupid nor overly prideful leader, he knows the knowledge of calling for back up and surviving to fight and win the war another day.

No one will reveal what Optimus died protecting.

While NEST is on orders to stand down, Major Lennox receives another phone call. Lennox and Epps speaks with the pilots alone and then quietly tells the rest of the soldiers that they are going to be heading to Egypt on the words of an unnamed source of intelligence. The word 'kid' ripples quietly through the members who had been under Major Lennox's command when he had been a Captain, and suddenly even if the rest of NEST won't follow, Captain Lennox's team is willing to risk their careers and lives to move 10 tons of dead robot half way around the world.

Right before battle commences on a terrain of hot desert sand in the middle of nowhere, Major Lennox reveals a name: Sam.

Sam, like the one that the Decepticons and the whole world are looking for. Sam, who is an unknown to NEST but not to the Autobots and the field command officers. Sam who is a civilian but carrying something intergalactic aliens are willing to go to war over.

In the land of sand, storm, and battle rain the precious cargo approaches.

Graham shoots and shouts, gives and follows and passes on orders from his commander and Lennox is running towards two civilians that have no reason to be present. The boy breaks away, running across the sand and is brought down. Even as Graham is struggling with the father, Lennox is pressing on the boy's chest with a fierce desperation – a refusal to believe that the boy is gone.

Graham knows the boy was clinically dead, the medics weren't able to restart his heart with electric pulses, but when they've given up – he stands and walks anyways. In the boy's, Sam's, hands a double horned object that does not originate from Earth _glows_. The resurrected becomes the resurrector as the dead boy climbs over the body of a fallen comrade and brings him back to life.

This is what Graham sees: a few days after the battle with the Fallen when everyone is regrouping from the upheaval, the yellow Camaro rolls into the Nellis Air base towards the hanger. Instead of transforming straight into its bipedal form like the other Autobots are, a car door swings opens and for the first time someone exits from the driver seat.

Sam Witwicky, freshman college boy and recent international fugitive, gets out and stands relaxed as the yellow automobile twists and turns and unfolds up and up into its other form.

Major William Lennox, Field Commander of NEST, pauses in his current task and then strides across the wide space towards the hanger, where the boy and his Autobot are being greeted.

"Sam!" Lennox is smiling, and so is Epps even as the Master Sergeant shakes his head, watching the Major clasp his hand on the shoulders of the young man.

The joy in Captain Lennox team's eyes is luminous.


End file.
